Looking Back and Reaching Forward as we Preserve the Past and
Explore the Future

Since the beginning of civilization, human beings have been collecting
information in one way or another. From the carvings on early clay tablets to
the wireless transmission of today's electronic bytes, people have needed ways
to record, store and retrieve information. This human need for managed
information is fundamental to the existence of libraries.

When I entered librarianship in 1972, I considered it to be a profession of
tradition with very little change. Little did I know that information and the
processes used to store, organize and disseminate it were about to explode. On
reflection, I now see that librarians have been living in a state of transition
for decades. Everything about our profession has changed, is still changing and
will continue to change. As the nature of our work has evolved and as the demand
for the immediacy of information has increased, we have developed new techniques
of learning and new ways of delivering information. The knowledge that we gained
yesterday is not sufficient to satisfy the needs of today's customers.
Tomorrow's customers will expect even more from us. As the library is a portal
to a world of expanding knowledge, we librarians must understand our community
so that we are ready to respond to their needs and requests in minutes. To
succeed we must have at hand the tools and skills best suited for the job.

As our cities struggle to contend with the ever-changing demands of society
and the associated costs, libraries must be right there at the table. The
library is a part of everything that affects our communities - education,
government, economic development, and health and human services. With this in
mind, I have attempted to lead the Birmingham Public Library and its staff
toward fulfilling our mission:

...to provide the highest quality library service to our citizens for
lifelong learning and cultural enrichment and enjoyment

During my tenure as director, I have helped the Birmingham Public Library
face challenges and changes. Maintaining the library's rich tradition of
excellence these past six years has been difficult as we have dealt with
declining budgets and staff shortages. If the library is to continue to be the
place where the public is expected to interact with others and to gain
knowledge, we must have the necessary resources. Our public is not demanding
less of us. They are demanding more and expect to receive more.

The Birmingham Public Library is considered by many as the "crown jewel" of
the City of Birmingham. Twice in the past five years, we have been designated as
the top tourist attraction in our city. Our doors are open to everyone
regardless of age, race, gender or ethnicity, and the staff stands ready to
assist them al. The Birmingham Public Library is an anchor for this city. We
take our responsibility seriously.

With City funds continuing to decrease, we have recognized the need to
reevaluate the library's expenditures and to seek out additional revenue
streams. We have leveraged an existing staff position so that the job
responsibilities include writing grants. Additional funds from other
organizations and foundations insure that we can meet the challenging
technological demands placed on us and continue to provide high-quality programs
and exhibits for our customers. This external financial support has allowed the
Birmingham Public Library to remain a formidable competitor in the "information
marketplace."

The library patrons of today demand immediate attention and want their
library needs fulfilled in their preferred formats. The Birmingham Public
Library has met this challenge and continues to meet it by providing new
products, new services and new opportunities for learning.

In the past year, the library has introduced new initiatives to support the
services and opportunities that the library provides. From the collection and
conservation to training and technology, the library is working on all fronts to
insure that current and future users will find what they need
when they need it at the Birmingham Public Library.

While today's customers often consult Internet websites as sources rather
than books, the Birmingham Public Library can still report an increase in the
circulation of books and other media during the past year. In addition to an
increase in Circulation, the library also experienced increases in Membership,
Library Visits and In-Library Use. This documented growth in the use of the
library supports my opening statement that people will always need "managed
information," but the formats will change and the speed of change will continue
to accelerate.

Public libraries are positioned to manage the flow of the knowledge, the
change in formats, and the public's requests for information, but we must be
ready and equipped to meet the needs of every generation that enters either in
person or via the web. This means maintaining traditional methods of service and
also reaching out with new service techniques. To meet this challenge, I shifted
staff positions to create a new "mini" library department that is called the
L2Crew. The name is a nod to the term "Library 2.0" that is used to describe the
transition in the way library services are delivered to users with blogs, wikis
and other Web 2.0 and social networking concepts. In the following list of new
initiatives, you will see the many approaches to hosting and sharing of
information that this group has developed. Unlike traditional committees with
planned face-to-face meetings, these young librarians and library assistants
transact much of their business via blogs and wikis. I am excited about their
future and consequently the future of BPL as they steer us in this direction.

The possibilities afforded us by technology are unlimited. Purchases of new
video equipment allowed us to increase our audiences through programs that are
simulcast between Central and the Five Points West and Springville Road
branches. With this equipment one speaker or trainer can reach three audiences
at the same time. To make immediate practical use of this technology, this past
year we introduced Tech Tuesdays @ Your Library, a series of programs on using
popular Internet tools such as blogs, photo sharing and instant messaging.

Each year we increase our outreach. We believe that we cannot just build
buildings and wait for the public to come to us. We know we have to reach out
and publicize what we do, so we continue to find ways to market our services.
For example, we have purchased promotional items specifically designed to
represent BPL in our community at events and fairs as well as in our own
backyard. We also build relationships and will continue to collaborate with old
acquaintances and to forge new partnerships to help us deliver our message.

We will always need and want to tell the library's story. Although most
people do not visit other public libraries when they travel, we librarians do.
We know that Birmingham Public Library is among the very best in the nation. We
want our citizens to know this too.
The review that follows highlights some of the programs, special events,
exhibits and other initiatives the library featured in the past fiscal year.

Barbara Sirmans,
Director

I have been blessed to have two wonderful and very capable Associate
Directors - Renee Blalock and Pamela Lyons. Together, our individual
personalities and strengths have been responsible for the continuous push of the
wheel that keeps Birmingham Public Library in a forward motion. The three of us
have been blessed with ten excellent Coordinators whose individual charges have
combined to form the wheel that is necessary for this movement. And for the
individual staff members, I can never say enough about them. I am where I am
because of the staff, and BPL is what it is because of the staff.

Finally, I am grateful to the members of the Library Board for your
support in helping BPL to remain the "crown jewel" of the City of Birmingham. It
is my desire that our citizens will always be able to count on us to provide
"the highest quality library service for their lifelong learning and cultural
enrichment."

2006 / 2007 New Initiatives

CollectionsIn addition to the acquisition of new materials and maintenance of the
largest public library collection in the state, the library acquired access to
two important electronic databases from the family of scholarly resources of the
Oxford University Press. The library's own staff developed and launched three
new databases of unique material from the library's collection. And the popular
DVD collection was expanded and reorganized.

New Databases

Purchased
Oxford Dictionary of Music
Oxford African American Studies Center

New Floating Collection of DVDs
A traveling collection of DVDs to eliminate multiple purchases

Conservation and Preservation
With recent focus placed on the reorganization and protection of the collection
in the South-ern History Department, more emphasis was directed to preserving
the library's unique and scarce materials. The library acquired a new
air-conditioning system for the rare materials and fire-proof cabinets for the
pamphlet collection. A campaign to expand the high school yearbook collection
resulted in adding records for these popular items to the catalog and
reorganizing the books for ease of retrieval. Staff training in disaster
response and consultations with experts in preservation kept the spotlight on
the importance of preservation and conservation and offered plans for moving
forward to preserve our past.

ConstructionEvery year brings the need to renovate and improve the physical facilities
throughout the library system. In addition to these important cyclical
improvements, this year the library opened the new West End branch.

LiteracyThe Literacy division continues to advocate the importance of literacy and
libraries. By going into the schools and the community, the staff promotes
library card sign-ups, forms partner-ships with service groups, applies for
grants, and encourages adults and children to value the ability to read.

Born to Read @ Your Library
Joint effort of JCLC member libraries for parents of infants born at area
birthing hospitals

Family Place Libraries
Avondale and Springville Road branches are the first libraries in Alabama
designated as Family Place Libraries

Ready to Read
Literacy Council partnership for adult nonreaders

Storytime
Weekly storytimes for patients at Children's Hospital

ProgrammingEvery year programming becomes more important as a means of drawing people to
the libraries. Many events including Summer Reading, Alabama Bound, and
Brown-Bag-Lunch programs have become standard entries on the annual calendar.
New programs are inspired by new interests and needs. The Local Authors Expo
added last year was so successful, it will return this fall. BPL@Night was
expanded to the branches, and additional outreach programming is under-way for
all teens and seniors.

Between the Lions
Hosted the cast of Between the Lions at branches

BPL@Night
Expanded from Central to the branches

Local Authors Expo 2006
Space and opportunity for 70 authors to promote their books

New Outreach to Adults and Seniors Development of adult programming
systemwide

New Teen Initiative
Organization of BPL teens for activities and as helpers

Public RelationsTelling the library's story can be as obvious as presenting a program on the
Bright House television channel, as subtle as hanging a banner on a lamp post or
as accessible as putting bookmarks and printed brochures on a rack. All are
important ways to place the library in the public arena. New public relations
efforts this year included training the staff to add events to the new online
calendar and to use digital cameras, easing up the restrictions on the public
having food and drink, putting the logo on library fixtures and furnishings, and
stationing people to welcome library visitors.

Christmas with Santa

EventKeeper
Online calendar of events for all Birmingham Public Library locations

Purchases
BPL exhibit tents
Tablecloths with the logo
Signs with the logo and a picture
Digital cameras for every location

Staff Training
Ongoing training is required for keeping up in today's library world and factors
in all of the library's initiatives. One notable new training program this year
is the University of North Texas Le@d pro-gram that brought online instruction
for practical matters to BPL.

Technology
Technology spread in many directions for the library this year. For the
infrastructure and security of the network, the library's aging hardware and
products received upgrades or were replaced with new technology and system
management tools. An LSTA grant provided funding for equipment for simulcasts,
and now on Tuesdays the library offers simulcast training in the use of Internet
tools.

Installation of CybraryNet
PC management and statistics

Installation of New PCs
288 new PCs

Network Security
Installation of new firewall and new virus protection product

New Purchases
Replaced Web Server Replaced MAS90 Server

Tech Tuesdays @ Your Library
Live technology programs at Central simulcast to Five Points West and
Springville Road

Video Conferences
LSTA grant for equipment to simulcast programs among Central, Springville Road
and Five Points West

Web 2.0 TechnologyWith the Internet having developed into a powerful interactive resource, the
library has expanded its technology to include blogs, wikis and other ways of
sharing content on the web. A team of staff from around the system is working to
manage the library's content on the web, to train staff how to use the web for
projects for their work, and to incorporate the web into the library's
operations.

The L2Crew
Staff using Web 2.0 tools to develop Library 2.0 concepts and make the library's
space interactive

Blogs
News, Reviews and Information
Digital Collections
Staff blog has been developed for use by all staff Departmental blogs

2006 / 2007 Awards
BPL was one of 80 libraries featured in the book Heart of the Community:
Libraries We Love
Deborah Dahlin was awarded the first Le@der of the Month award (for the
number of hours of training done by the BPL staff)
East Ensley (Mrs. Wilma Cottrell posthumously) - Girl Scouts Friendship Service
Pin
Melinda Shelton - BPL's MySpace page won the Be Innovative award from
Innovative Interfaces
North Birmingham - CHARPS Great Service Award
North Birmingham - Jefferson County Health Department Public Health Award
Pratt City - Alabama Governor's Commission on the Employment of People with
Disabilities Mentoring Day Award
BPL received the 1st place award from the Department of Youth Services for the
Feed the Need and Toys for Tots Program

2006 / 2007 Special Events and Programs

2007 Career Development for Unemployed Women
3rd Annual Great Garage Sale (fundraiser for Staff Day)
3rd Annual Read It Forward
African American Genealogy Workshop
Alabama Bound: A Book Fair Celebrating Alabama Authors and Publishers (19
authors)
Between the Lions (608 library cards to students in Head Start)
Bill Cosby's Cal Out
Boo at the Zoo
BPL Presents - 12 Bright House productions BPL@ Night